Intel to Invest 22 Trillion Won in New Semiconductor Factory... Also Entering Foundry Business

CNBC "Could Be an Alternative to Asia's Monopoly"

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] U.S. semiconductor company Intel is entering the foundry business (Foundry: semiconductor contract manufacturing). To this end, it plans to invest $20 billion (approximately 22 trillion won) to build new semiconductor factories and collaborate with other companies to enhance semiconductor production capacity.

On the 23rd (local time), Intel's CEO Pat Gelsinger announced the full-scale entry into the foundry business during the online conference "Intel's Liberation: Designing the Future." CEO Gelsinger said, "Innovation to open a new era for Intel has begun," and added, "We will achieve results in every field we enter."

Accordingly, Intel will build two new semiconductor factories in Arizona, USA, investing at least $20 billion for this purpose. The newly established semiconductor factories will be used to produce self-designed semiconductor chips. Additionally, leveraging the expanded production capacity, Intel will start the foundry business, producing Intel's own architecture x86 chips as well as ARM chips for mobile devices such as smartphones.

Intel's entry into the foundry business comes amid the recent worsening global semiconductor supply shortage. The semiconductor shortage has adversely affected the U.S. automotive industry, raising the need for domestic semiconductor production by U.S. companies.

In particular, since Asian companies dominate the foundry sector, concerns have been raised about relying on foreign countries for semiconductor production, which is a core national industry. According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), current semiconductor production in the U.S. accounts for about 12% of the global total production.

CNBC reported, "As the global semiconductor supply shortage continues, the need for domestic semiconductor production in the U.S. has been raised," and analyzed, "Intel could emerge as an alternative in the foundry sector, which is monopolized by Asia."

With global foundry sector sales expected to exceed $100 billion by 2025, Intel plans to leverage this to boost its growth potential. CEO Gelsinger stated, "We plan to attract major U.S. IT companies such as Apple as our foundry customers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.